The new CityWay development in Downtown is one recent example of improving conditions in the city. But persistent problems remain in many areas of Indianapolis. / Indianapolis Star

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So I was filling out a wellness survey as part of my health plan recently, not putting much thought into my answers as I cruised through dozens of questions. Most were simple.

Do you smoke? Nope.

Do you eat multiple servings of vegetables a day? I try.

Do you drink coffee? As if it were a life source.

Do you get eight hours of sleep a night? I have a 2-year-old, so take a guess.

Typical stuff. Then I got to the section of the survey that dealt with a variety of quality-of-life issues — things about family, friends, work and stress. The questions were more complex but nonetheless remained easy to answer. Until I got to this one:

Is the city or area where you live getting better or getting worse as a place to live?

I found myself struggling to answer the question and staring at the computer screen as the multiple choice question stared right back at me. I wanted to say “both” but that wasn’t among the choices. And if the question had asked whether I thought Indianapolis is a great place to live, my answer would have been a quick and unabashed yes.

But the question was more complicated. Here in 2013, with all of the positives and negatives facing the city, with all of the challenges and opportunities, is Indianapolis getting better or getting worse as a place to live? It wouldn’t be hard to make a case for either answer.

But picking one? Unfortunately, that’s tough.

I immediately pondered the most important issue in the city: education. The numbers are devastating, with thousands of young people dropping out each year and too many graduating without the academic skills they need to survive college. Indianapolis Public Schools is in the midst of painful budget cuts and continuing to show signs of the dysfunction that has plagued it for years. So much potential in so many young people is being wasted. Politics so often overwhelm what’s best for students.

But there are also many signs of hope: The reform movement is thriving. Charter schools are offering families much-needed options. Some new members of the IPS board are demanding better and they have a chance to hire a new superintendent who could rethink the organization. Innovation and wonderful educators can be found throughout the city.

“As far as education, I feel like we have much more momentum in Indianapolis today,” Francesca Jarosz, director of communications and policy at The Mind Trust, a local education organization, wrote when I emailed her the better-or-worse question. “Our challenge is capitalizing on that momentum in a way that engages the community.”

I agree. What’s up for debate is whether the community will get behind the cause. If not, families who can leave will continue to head to the suburbs. Another generation of students will lack the opportunities they deserve — opportunities that, when fulfilled, can make this a better place to live. The tax base will continue to shrink. Demands on those taxpayers who stay will continue to grow. Crime will continue to crush neighborhoods.

Anyone who lives here likely remains concerned about crime. And while new Public Safety Director Troy Riggs is impressing just about everyone he meets, offering a dose of hope, the unproductive feud between the City-County Council and the mayor’s office over the potential hiring of new police officers is dispiriting. It boggles the mind that our leaders can’t rally as one around this issue. It frustrates many residents, of course.

The mayor, of course, makes a strong case for the city. In his State of the City address in March he said “we are getting stronger every day.”

“I cannot underscore this point enough,” he declared. “Indianapolis is growing. There is an excitement with all of the activity taking place – and we are just getting started.”

Since that day, the mayor’s mass transit plan faltered at the Statehouse and another round of budget cuts has been announced. But a series of developments and improvements back up his claim. The heart of Fountain Square is booming. Bike trails and the Cultural Trail are wonderful new additions. CityWay and the growth of Massachusetts Avenue are great improvements. The ongoing infrastructure work will pay dividends for decades.

Still, the better-or-worse question is tough. Why? Because so many of our improvements are isolated. The mayor can talk about specific projects but not so much about a broader momentum. Too many neighborhoods are failing badly. What’s missing is a wide-scale embrace of the need to aim higher, as Mitch Daniels used to say. And the core problems — education, crime, abandoned homes, unemployment — remain stubbornly in place as major threats to the future.

On issue after issue, competing realities make the question posed a challenging one.

It’s great that we will soon have a car-sharing program, but we continue to recycle at pathetically low rates. It’s cool that the city has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for roads and sidewalks, but the city’s fiscal condition leaves serious doubts about the future. It’s nice that we have more bike lanes than ever, but our collective obesity and health issues exact a heavy toll.

“You can see exciting pockets of progress in Indianapolis,” Councilman John Barth said. “Exciting new businesses and new amenities like the Cultural Trail are making a huge impact. But we have seriously under-served areas where progress is needed — our neighborhoods outside of Downtown, a vision for the future of all our schools.”

Highlighting the tug and pull of this issue, Councilman Jeff Miller said that Indianapolis “is getting better and becoming more of a true community,” while Regina Marsh, who runs the Forest Manor Multi Service Center emailed to bluntly state: “It’s more dangerous.”

I can see it both ways.

Most of us who live here would probably say Indianapolis is a good place to call home. I’d say it remains a great place to be. But is it getting better or getting worse as a place to live? Frank Watson, a Near-Eastside neighborhood leader, put it well when I posed that question to him.

“Hmm,” he said. “That’s a good question. It’s a hard question to answer.”

It is. In the end, as I filled out my survey, I chose the last answer on the list: I don’t know.